Stories from the history and science of cosmetics, skin care and early Beauty Culture.
Stories
Block Mascara
April 29th 2013
Until the 1960s, the most popular form of mascara in the twentieth century was the block or cake type. In the nineteenth century it had been known as water cosmetique or mascaro and it was only after 1900 that its name began to change.
Turtle Oil
April 18th 2013
Although turtle oil had long been used as a cosmetic by the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, it did not find its way into Western skin creams, in any major way, until the 1930s.
Facial Irons
April 1st 2013
Some beauty devices claimed to be able to remove wrinkles through the direct action of mechanical force; to literally ‘iron out wrinkles’. These ‘Facial Irons’ or ‘Wrinkle Irons’ were briefly popular in the early 1930s.
Artificial (False) Eyelashes
March 13th 2013
A number of people have been credited with the invention of false eyelashes including D. W. Griffith (1916), George Westmore (1917), Max Factor (1919) and Karl ‘Charles’ Nessler (1921). However, we have to look back a lot earlier than this to discover their origins.
Panchromatic Make-up
February 26th 2013
As panchromatic film was sensitive to the full colour spectrum the make-up practices used for blue-sensitive or orthochromatic film no longer worked. Make-up artists and film studios had to adjust.
Early Movie Make-up
February 17th 2013
Stage actors who came to work in early silent films often assumed they knew all there was to know about make-up but soon realised that, when it came to using it for the screen, they were mistaken.
Iontophoresis and Desincrustation
January 8th 2013
Iontophoresis is a technique that uses an electrical current to move substances across the skin or other body surfaces.
Paraffin Wax Baths
December 14th 2012
In the late 1910s a new heat treatment was introduced – the paraffin bath – which immersed parts of the body in, or painted them with, melted paraffin wax.
Cosmetic Skin
November 26th 2012
In 1934, Lever Brothers placed an advertisement in the World-Telegram newspaper for Lux Toilet Soap, warning consumers of the dangers of ‘Cosmetic Skin’.
Placental Creams and Serums
November 12th 2012
In 1958 Lambert-Hudnut introduced Elixir Natale and Cream Natale into the American market through the DuBarry line. As announced in the trade journal ‘American Perfumer & Essential Oil Review’ both cosmetics contained Placentine, a placental extract.
Eyelash Growers
October 29th 2012
Although women often go to great lengths to remove facial hair, there is one place on their face where there never seems to be enough, the eyelashes.
Rubinstein and Red Noses
September 11th 2012
In 1902, Helena Rubinstein arrived in Australia with minimal cash and few prospects. By 1905, she had money in the bank, and a thriving business. Rather than settle, Rubinstein went searching for new treatment ideas.
Kohl
August 30th 2012
Kohl was said to be used by the Russian dancers of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes but it was the silent movie ‘Vamps’ like Theda Bara and Pola Negri that generated the most interest in it.
Massage, Wrinkles and Double Chins
August 7th 2012
By the end of the nineteenth century massage was widely practiced in Europe, Britain and the United States and was adopted by beauty salons for use in treatments for the body, hands, feet and face.
Indelible Lipsticks
July 23rd 2012
Interest in lipsticks of the indelible type waxed and waned through the first half of the twentieth century but were generally more popular in the United States than elsewhere.
Red Light, Blue Light
March 14th 2012
Like so many other things that began in medicine, the use of red and blue light was picked up by Beauty Culture and incorporated into its routines.
X-rays and Hair Removal
January 22nd 2012
Although there are numerous methods for temporarily getting rid of excess hair, before X-rays, the only recognized procedure for permanently removing hair was electrolysis.
Pearl Essence
January 10th 2012
The increased use of pastel shaded make-up after the Second World War was followed by a fashion for pearl lustre. Previously used only in nail lacquers, artificial pearl was introduced into a wide range of cosmetics.
Cosmetic Stockings
January 2nd 2012
As silk and nylon stockings vanished from the shelves, women looked to alternatives. Some turned to leg make-up – also known as cosmetic stockings, liquid stockings, bottled stockings and phantom hose.
Cake Make-up
December 12th 2011
In its day, Pan-Cake make-up was the most successful line ever produced by Max Factor. Although released as a general make-up, it was originally developed to overcome the make-up problems of Technicolor films.
Freckle Removers
November 30th 2011
A smooth, soft and transparent skin was an important attribute for Victorian and Edwardian ladies. This made freckles a much hated skin blemish and treatments to get rid of them were a staple in beauty books of the time.
Vacuum Suction
November 25th 2011
Many early beauty treatments for wrinkles, crépy throats and double chins were based on improving blood circulation. Athough massage was the most common manual treatment, some beauty culturists used partial vacuums to achieve the same result.
Straps, Bandages and Tapes
October 22nd 2011
Wrinkles, sagging necks and double chins, characteristics of many women over the age of thirty-five, were commonly treated by early beauty culturists with some form of physical contouring involving straps, bandages or tapes.
Facial Gymnastics
September 20th 2011
Given the rise of the physical culture movement in the nineteenth century it was inevitable that someone would apply its principles to sculpt the face.
Motor Skin
September 5th 2011
In the early part of the twentieth century the Pompeian Manufacturing Company advised automobilists of the need to use Pompeian Massage Cream to overcome the problems of ‘automobile complexion’, also known as ‘motor skin’.
Charles of the Ritz Powder Bars
August 29th 2011
Sometime in the 1930s, Charles of the Ritz introduced made-to-order powder. The company set up powder bars in department stores staffed with ‘blending experts’ who could make up face powder to match the skin tone of any customer.
Petrolatum/Petroleum Jelly
August 10th 2011
Robert Chesebrough began selling petrolatum under the trade name Vaseline Petroleum Jelly in 1870. After a slow start it went on to become an international best seller.
Rolling Creams
July 5th 2011
The most popular rolling cream of the twentieth century, ‘Pompeian Massage Cream’ began its life in a drug store in Cleveland in 1901 as an after-shave massage cream.
Royal Jelly
June 26th 2011
Largely driven by new methods of preservation and some suspect research, the early 1950s saw royal jelly being added to cosmetics. Beginning in Europe the fad soon spread.
Water Cosmetique (Mascaro)
June 9th 2011
It is sometimes said that Eugene Rimmel was the originator of mascara. However the product he made – called Water Cosmetique – was developed to be used on men’s moustaches not women’s eyelashes.
Eyelash Beading
June 1st 2011
Before the days of false eyelashes, many actresses, dancers or others working in show business beaded their eyelashes to make them appear darker, fuller and longer.
Albumin Wrinkle Smoothers
May 15th 2011
In 1964, Helene Curtis Industries, Inc, introduced ‘Magic Secret’ onto the American market in a blaze of television commercials. The product was advertised as a wrinkle smoothing lotion that “smoothes away wrinkles in minutes”.
Skin Tonics, Astringents and Toners
April 18th 2011
Early beauty culturists preached the importance of ‘toning’, ‘stimulating’ or ‘freshening’ the skin after cleansing by using some form of skin tonic, skin freshener or astringent.
Patters
April 4th 2011
Manual treatments such as massage, bandages, chin straps and patters were used in early Beauty Culture to treat wrinkles, flabbiness and double chins.
Hormone Creams, Oils and Serums
February 17th 2011
Late in 1931 Helena Rubinstein announced to her American clients that she had “just returned from Paris to personally introduce her new Hormone preparations for the regeneration of skin youth”.
Arden Screen and Stage Make-up
January 16th 2011
Exactly where Elizabeth Arden’s decision to get involved with Hollywood came from is anyone’s guess. My money would be on Jock Whitney who Arden knew from the racetrack.
Greasepaint
December 27th 2010
By the 1840s most theatre stages in the western world had adopted gas lighting in preference to candles or oil lamps. Actors were flooded with light and this required them to change the way they dressed, acted and used make-up.
Lash Lure
November 29th 2010
In October 1933, Paramount released a newsreel about the proposed changes to the 1906 Food and Drug Act. It included footage describing how several women had suffered corneal damaged from using an ‘eyelash beautifier’.
Skin Foods
September 20th 2010
As the skin ages it thins and wrinkles. To some early observers this was due to a decline in subcutaneous fat, causing the skin to fall into folds.
Hazeline Snow
August 30th 2010
Stearates have been used to make skin preparations from at least 1873. The first commercial stearate cream was introduced in 1892 when Burroughs Wellcome began manufacturing Hazeline Snow.
Rouge
July 19th 2010
Given the long association between a pale, flawless complexion, red cheeks and lips with European ideals of health and beauty, it is not surprising that red coloured cosmetics have a extended history of use.
Electrolysis
May 17th 2010
Nineteenth century physicians knew that hair grew from a ‘pulp’ at the base of the hair follicle, and that eliminating it would permanently remove the hair.
Lash-Brow-Ine
April 19th 2010
The story of Maybelline usually starts with Tom Lyle Williams watching his sister Maybel applying burnt cork mixed into petroleum jelly to her eyebrows and lashes after she singed them on the stove.
Poudre de Riz
March 16th 2010
Exactly when rice powder (‘poudre de riz’) came to be used as a cosmetic in Europe has yet to be determined. It was used as a base for perfume, as a powder or wash to lighten the skin, or as a powder to whiten wigs.
Face Skinning
October 23th 2009
In the nineteenth century, there was little that could be done for many individuals who suffered from facial disfigurements such as pits, scars, marks and blotches.
Acid Creams
September 16th 2009
In the 1890s, science discovered that the skin had an acidic surface. In 1928, Schade and Marchionini coined the term ‘acid mantle’ to describe this low pH film and suggested that its function was to protect the skin from microbes.
Rachel
August 17th 2009
Early face powders produced for the mass market came in three shades, Blanche (white), Naturelle (pink), and Rachel (cream). The names used for these powders were French so why was the colour cream called Rachel and not Crème.
What is a Cosmetic?
August 8th 2009
Most of us use cosmetics everyday and we “know them when we see them”. However, if I was to ask you whether you thought your toothpaste, suntan lotion, lip balm or anti-dandruff shampoo were cosmetics, I might get a range of opinions.
Ingredients Lists
August 4th 2009
Most countries have legislation in place that requires manufacturers to include an ingredients list somewhere on their cosmetic products. Generally speaking, the requirement is to list the ingredients clearly and legibly in descending order of quantity.
Mercolized Wax
July 7th 2009
The use of mercury compounds such as bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) and ammoniated mercury were used in cosmetics despite numerous warnings of its dangers. A number of products relied on it to “improve and beautify the complexion”.
Pearl Powders
June 17th 2009
Powdered pearl has a long history of use in face and body powders. The pearl used was most likely garnered from fresh-water species of oysters rather than the more expensive salt-water varieties.
Loose Face Powders
May 25th 2009
Although powder disappeared from men’s and women’s hair in the nineteenth century it continued to be part of many lady’s arsenal even in Victorian times when cosmetics were under general disapproval.
Queen Alexandra and Face Enameling
May 18th 2009
When the First World War ended in 1918, Alexandra was nearly 64 years of age. As the mother of King George V, she still engaged in public appearances but took to wearing veils, wigs and apparently resorted to having her face ‘enameled’.
Skin Respiration
May 4th 2009
If you saw the film Goldfinger, you will remember the scene where Bond was knocked out and woke up to find Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) dead after being covered in gold paint – supposedly death by skin asphyxiation.
Esther Williams breaks Powell’s Face
April 25th 2009
An interesting description of a incident on the movie ’Hoodlum Saint’ describing use of a make-up technique to give William Powell a non-surgical face lift.
Vanishing Creams
April 20th 2009
Vanishing creams get their name from the fact that they seemed to disappear when spread onto the skin. The first commercial vanishing cream, ‘Hazeline Snow’ was introduced by Burroughs Wellcombe in 1894.
A Glowing Complexion
April 14th 2009
Tho-Radia cosmetics had a product range which included cleansing milk, skin cream, powder, rouge, lipstick and toothpaste. It was called Tho-Radia as it contained thorium chloride and radium bromide, both of which were radioactive.
Cold Creams
April 6th 2009
Cold creams are thought of primarily as cleansers. Described by Poucher as emulsions “in which the proportion of fatty and oily material predominates”, these creams have one of the longest histories in cosmetics.
Complexion
March 31st 2009
Part of our morning ritual is to stand in front of a mirror applying cosmetics – like a moisturiser or foundation – to fix or minimise imperfections in our complexion.
Max and the Tube
March 22nd 2009
Max Factor is widely known for, amongst other things, his contributions to the motion picture industry. As television expanded after the Second World War, Max Factor & Co. got involved in this new industry as well.
Complete Story?
March 15th 2009
The introduction of sunscreens means that a wide range of cosmetics are now classified as therapeutic goods. These products do not require a full ingredients list. Will this reduce the amount of information we get on labels?
Coty ‘Air Spun’
March 6th 2009
Around 1935, Coty began marketing their loose face powders as ‘Air Spun’. The technology was used as a marketing tool to sell the company’s face powder.